The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN has announced the favorable report of the final arbitration award issued by a Tribunal constituted under the auspices of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center of the Federal High Court on November 11, 2025.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday by the AGF Media Assistant, Kamarudeen Ogundele, he said that the Claimant (Fougerolle V Fougerolle) initiated the arbitration through a Notice of Arbitration dated December 12, 2022, approximately 18 years after the Claimant terminated the contract in question on January 30, 2004.
The case concerns a contract dated March 31, 1981, between the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and a joint venture of Fougerolle Nigeria Ltd and Fougerolle SA (a French company), for the construction of civil works at the Ajaokuta steel complex in Kwara (now Kogi) State.
The AGF said that contrary to the terms of the contract and Fougerolle’s undertaking, Fougerolle requested the Court to compel the additional payment of unverified and uncertified sums of N3,846,098,403.00 and €185,733,496.00.
Previously, the federal government tasked Messrs. Price WaterCooperhouse with verifying any indebtedness owed to Fougerolle after terminating the contract.
This led to the payment of N3,894,600,000.00 to Fougerolle vide FGN Bonds on September 11, 2006. Fougerolle signed an indemnity on September 8, 2006, accepting the above sum as full and final settlement. However, more than 16 years later, Fougerolle filed this lawsuit.
The Court upheld the Federal Government’s preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of Fougerolle’s phantom claims primarily on the grounds of statutory prohibition, non-disclosure of a reasonable cause of action since the FGN bonds together with Fougerolle’s indemnity extinguished the debt, and the absence of a competent claimant.
However, the Court considered Fougerolle’s claim on the merits and held that Fougerolle had failed to establish its case and had in fact waived all its rights to any further claim against the Federal Government because the payment made through FGN Bonds satisfied the contractual obligation between the parties.
The Court rejected Fougerolle’s expropriation claim and the claim that he had issued the compensation under duress.
The AGF said in the statement that the entire case was eventually dismissed, thus saving the federal government over N4 billion in liabilities.
The case was argued by officials of the Federal Ministry of Justice in furtherance of the AGF’s commitment to increase the capacity of Ministry officials to defend sensitive litigation and ADR matters to protect the interests of the FGN.
The decision, the statement said, also underlines the determination of the current administration to challenge all predatory and opportunistic claims against Nigeria, while emphasizing the government’s policy of promoting ADR as a dispute resolution mechanism.